Whoosh takes on Now: how Tesco is beating Amazon in the rapid grocery delivery space across London

Last week, we reported that Amazon Now had gone live in Lewisham and Battersea in London. This followed the launch during January of QLD1 - the first Amazon Now on demand delivery site in the UK.

The service lets customers purchase thousands of everyday essentials, such as groceries and personal care items, that will be delivered within minutes. In India, it last year brought ten-minute delivery to Mumbai following launches in Bengaluru and Delhi, with 100+ micro-fulfilment centres operational.

In a LinkedIn post, Elisa Michelin Salomon, Ops Lead, EU Quick Commerce, said: "What an incredible day yesterday (19th March). We went live with two new Amazon Now sites in London. Fresh groceries and everyday essentials can now be delivered in as fast as 30 minutes in Battersea and Lewisham."

"A huge team effort behind the scenes - incredible coordination across multiple teams to successfully launch two sites on the same day. Proud to be part of this journey and excited for what’s next."

Sainsbury’s recently pulled its own on demand delivery service, Chop Chop, which it launched in 2016 and had been available at 50 stores across the UK.

Quick commerce orders will now be made through Sainsbury’s main app. Chop Chop was its answer to same‑day offerings like Tesco’s Whoosh. Whilst the plug has been pulled, Sainsbury’s continues to work with the likes of Deliveroo and Uber Eats in this space

Its Head of Experience Design, Jim Banks, said: “Customers shouldn’t have to think about which app to use. One place to do the weekly shop. One place to get groceries in as little as 60 minutes.”

"Less friction. Less mental load. More getting on with life. This is a big step forward in simplifying our ecosystem, making shopping feel easier, calmer, and more human.”

Are you Friday night ready? Get all you need to make dinner, delivered from as little as 20 minutes! 🥘😋

Ts&Cs apply. Find out more at https://t.co/BO0JKWVDxl pic.twitter.com/AOb3frVfDy

— Tesco (@Tesco) October 20, 2023

Tesco, meanwhile, remains firmly in the game and is heavily pushing its Whoosh offering. Motivated by a £5 off orders over £10 voucher, RTIH Editor and Founder, Scott Thompson, booked a delivery (£2.99 fee) this past weekend, and was impressed by the easy to navigate and generally very well designed app, product selection, prices (Clubcard prices galore), a nifty real-time tracker, text updates, and the fact that delivery happened within 20 minutes of placing his order with all items in stock.

This is ultimately an excellent joined up omnichannel experience (Clubcard points for using Whoosh, don't mind if I do), both successfully replicating the in-store offering online and nailing the tricky art of quick commerce.

The same can't be said, however, for Amazon Now. Scott, who lives in the Lewisham area of London, also decided to take Amazon Now for a spin.

After placing an order (receiving free delivery on orders over £15 (limited time offer, standard fee £2) and choosing from a decent if unspectacular selection of Morrisons, by Amazon and branded products - pretty reasonable prices also - there's a Tesco Price Match and Big Savings section), he was informed that delivery would be within 23 minutes.

The order turned up (via bike) within 17 minutes and all products were in stock.

A second order was placed a day later, with delivery this time promised within 22 minutes. Somewhat confusingly, one item turned up within 16 minutes (a bottle of bleach) with the real-time tracker stating that the rest of the items would arrive via a different driver/cyclist a few minutes later.

The remainder of the order was then abruptly cancelled, with an email stating that “payment couldn't be completed. You won't be charged for the cancelled items. An issuing bank will often decline an attempt to charge a card if the name, expiry date, or post code you entered doesn't match the bank's information.

NB: there were sufficient funds in Scott’s account. A mixed bag, then, but we will give them the benefit of the doubt and put this down to teething issues. Work also needs to be done on the app layout (it's a bit all over the place, feels buried within the main Amazon app, and the real-time tracker could be easier to use).

Amazon has deep pockets so expect them to keep rolling Now out across London, but as things stand, it's hard to escape the nagging feeling that, much like physical stores, the US online giant just doesn't get the groceries game and never will.

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

On demand delivery will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.